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It is great for World Languages because you can create the games using text or a great selection of clip art that they provide. The site is Tools for Educators.

On the site you can create many types of games. If you like Bingo, it will create as many cards as you need (so everyone doesn’t bingo at once). There is a dice maker option. You can use the dice to play many types of games like these ones.

My students love the Bounce Around game. Sometimes we play to learn vocabulary, and sometimes a question is in some of the squares.

Be sure to check it out! Make some game boards and laminate them. Create once and use several times.

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I learned about Plickers at the MACUL conference. In a nutshell, students hold up their answer to a multiple choice question projected on the screen. It is great for formative assessment. It is similar to using those clickers. Read on to find out how easy and useful it is.

First you print out a class set of “Answer cards”. Each card has a unique number on it. Assign a number to each student. You can use the same number for multiple classes. The program knows by time of day which student it is.

Project multiple choice questions that you create on the Flickers website. Students turn their card with the correct answer on the top.

You use a phone or tablet to scan the papers, it takes very little time.

The students will see how many of them voted for each answer. You will reveal the correct answer.

Later you can check out each individual student’s responses.

Give it a try, it is a very simple and effective way to check student progress.

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I love doing glyphs with my students. It incorporates many parts of languages, reading, writing, speaking… I hope this description will make sense to you. Keep in mind that this is done in the TL but I have switched it to English because some of you are not Spanish teachers….

Glyphs make pictures out of information. Students draw a portion of a picture for each prompt given. This one is an example of one that I use for the end of the first month for review. Some of the prompts require a bit of charades to explain in the TL, or vocabulary drawn on the whiteboard (eyes, pointy, etc.). I have changed the sentences to English, they would be in Spanish. It forces them to read and apply what they are learning. Instructions include telling them to read all of the prompts before beginning. Below this glyph I have some further examples of how I use it in my class:

If you are 14, draw a large cat’s body (80% of page). 15, draw a medium cat (50%). Any other age, draw a small cat (30%).

If you prefer to write with a pencil, draw a fat cat. Pen, draw a skinny cat.

If you have a calculator in your book bag, draw a long tail. If not draw a short tail.

If you have a cell phone, color the eyes green. If not, color them blue.

If you have more than 3 pencils with you, give the cat pointy ears. If not, draw rounded ears.

If it is sunny today, draw a black nose and mouth. If it is not sunny, draw a brown nose.

Draw a stripe on the cat that represents the number of the month in which you were born. Example: May = 5 stripes

Draw a whisker for the day of the month that you were born. (Ex: 10th = 10 whiskers)

Extensions:

Tape up the cats and have students try to identify to whom each belongs.

Have students exchange glyphs and write the facts they learn in the TL about the other student from examining the picture.

Have students write facts about their own glyph to substantiate the drawing.

I have also used a house as a glyph. The prompts can be changed so students have to color the house, draw a certain number of windows, etc.

You can really have them draw any picture you wish and make the prompts fill it in.

This activity gives students practice reading and speaking. Be sure to tell students to give reading the clues in the TL a fair try, not to resort to English too easily (or at all preferably).

Prepare two different crossword puzzles. The clues to each puzzle are switched on the puzzle pages. Label one Crossword A and one Crossword B so you know the difference.
In pairs, students take turns reading the clues on their puzzle page to their partner.

Variations:
1. Prepare one puzzle but give one student the horizontal and one the vertical clues.
2. Have students create puzzles. They put the puzzle on one page and the clues on the other. Students read the clues they made for their partner to complete the puzzle.

Have students fold paper in fourths then number the squares 1-4 (or 1-8 if you use the back too). Say (in the TL) “Number One. I like apples. “ or something like that using a vocabulary word in a simple context. The students draw a representation of the word you used. Repeat until all squares are filled, then check the answers by having the students tell you what the word for each number was (in the TL, of course).

This game practices numbers. It works well because students can narrow down the number quickly and get lots of speaking and number recognition practice.
Make a T-chart on the whiteboard. Write Más (more) on the left side and Menos (less) on the right side.
I usually start and choose a number for the class to guess. I put a range on the board (0-100, etc). I write the number secretly on a piece of paper. Students raise their hands to guess my number. I write the number guessed in the appropriate column in the T-chart so the students know if my number is higher or lower than the one they guessed.
The student who guesses correctly chooses the next number. They must stand at the board and select guessers and write their numbers int eh chart. I have the student write it on a piece of paper so I can help and make sure they do not change their number.
After playing as a class a few times, students can play in small groups so that more students are actively playing.

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This is a good review game for any unit of vocabulary that can be acted out. The premise is that the roles are reversed. The guesser is one person and the teammates are the actors. It keeps everyone active in the game.

Divide the students into two teams.
Arrange them in the room so the teams are sitting facing each other.
One person from each team stands between the teams.
The two contestants must stand back to back while each is facing the opposite team.
The teach writes a vocabulary word on a small whiteboard (or scrap paper, or use flashcards) and shows it to everyone except the contestants. The reason the contestants are facing the opposite team is so the teammates cannot try to give hints or begin acting early.
When everyone has seen the word, the teacher counts to three.
The contestants turn and face their own team. Their team is acting out the word. They must do it silently.
The first contestant to say the word correctly in the TL gets a point for their team.
Contestants square off three times before being replaced with someone new from their team.

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My students love this game. I am sure that I learned about it from an elementary teacher’s blog.

Set up: Draw a picture of a big foot on the board. Put point values on the back of several sticky notes (75% positive, 25% negative) and put them on and around the foot.

Students get into groups of four.
Each group member gets a number (1-4), they can decide on their own who is what number.
The teacher asks a question.
Groups confer on answer and make sure each member knows the answer (or a possible answer).
After 30 seconds or so the teacher says what student number must come up to answer.
They write the answer on a small white board or whisper to teacher.
All students must know the answer because they do not know who will be called. If correct, they pull a sticky note to receive their group’s points.

I did make the mistake of making the points half positive and half negative but it is much better if only 25% of the points are negative.

For a variation you can give a subject and an infinitive that they have to conjugate.

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I saw someone on another blog post this not long ago as Papeles Locos. I am not sure which blog it was, I see so many of them. I played it in class last week. It went really well. I wrote a sentence starter on the top of each paper and had them complete the sentence (but while rewriting the sentence starter. I left the verb un-conjugated, another task they had to complete.
Write a different vocabulary word on the top of several pieces of paper, and each team (of two to three students) receives a different color marker.
Write about ten vocabulary words for four groups. You could really go crazy, and write a lot for an exam review.
Then, crumple all of the papers up and put them in the middle of the room.
Each team picks a paper and has to write a sentence using that verb or noun and include their team number. They crumple up that piece of paper and pick a new one.
Give extra points to teams who correct another team’s sentence and to the team that writes the longest sentence on each piece of paper.
They cannot write similar sentences, or they will not receive any points.
They can also write an additional sentence if they pick up the same piece of paper. It is a quick review that is very effective.

I made a time limit of 10 minutes to increase the urgency and teamwork.